Arab ministers won't side with Fatah or Hamas

Arab foreign ministers steered clear of taking sides between Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas on Thursday following a late-night meeting to review the state of Middle East peace talks since the U.S. presidential election and the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The ministers told Palestinian groups they should resume without delay an internal dialogue meant to bring the West Bank, run by Fatah, and Gaza Strip, run by Hamas since July, back under a single Palestinian authority.

They also called for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza and promised to send food, medicines and medical supplies to Gaza immediately.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the resolution did not do enough to end the blockade of Gaza and failed to overcome the obstacles to Palestinian reconciliation.

"Such a meeting in such catastrophic conditions that Gaza has gone through must have merited an official Arab decision to completely end the siege imposed on Gaza and open the Rafah crossing (to Egypt)," he said.

The resolution demanded the end of the Israeli blockade on Gaza and stated that Arab states should send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip either through international aid organizations or through other arrangements among Arab states bordering the Gaza Strip, such as tunnel shipping.

The first successful effort to break the blockade by an Arab state came on Wednesday as a Libyan cargo carrying 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid arrived at Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, according to AFP.

After the meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo the ministers said in a resolution they recognized Fatah’s Mahmoud Abbas as president while also acknowledging the legitimacy of the Palestinian Legislative Council, dominated by Hamas.

Such a meeting in such catastrophic conditions that Gaza has gone through must have merited an official Arab decision to completely end the siege imposed on Gaza and open the Rafah crossing

Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas spokesman

Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo welcomed the resolution. "It gives Hamas another chance to pull itself together and get out of the isolation it imposed on itself," he said.

The conference was the first one to take place following Egypt’s cancelation of Hamas-Fatah dialogue talks scheduled for Nov. 10 after when Hamas Hamas insisted that Fatah must first set free jailed Hamas members.

Diplomats say Hamas's position annoyed Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have generally favored Fatah and are wary of Hamas's links either with Iran or with opposition Sunni Islamists such as Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The ministers added: "We warn of the gravity of not responding to efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation and of the serious repercussions which that could have for the parties that stand in the way of national accord."

Arab ministers also stressed the importance of holding Palestinian presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem of Syria, which supports Hamas, said he wished that "the other side" had had an opportunity to present its point of view at the meeting.

The pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit objected, saying that only governments could take part in Arab League meetings.

We warn of the gravity of not responding to efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation and of the serious repercussions which that could have for the parties that stand in the way of national accord

Arab ministers